Fedoseev and Girya dominate Russian qualifier

6/11/2014 – Being favorite is a double-edged sword as anyone can attest to. After six rounds, the Russian Higher League, qualifying to the Russian Super Final later this year, is finally taking shape and the leaders are also clear. In the men's section, 19-year-old Vladimir Fedoseev started like a rocket with 5.0/6 and a 2835 performance, while Olga Girya dominates the Women's. Illustrated report.

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If you had a silent wager on Dmitry Jakovenko, the heavy Elo favorite, fear not as he is still in contention with 4.5/6 in second-third. He had a rather slow start with one win and three draws, but came back with two wins in rounds five and six and may yet outpace his rivals. Alongside him, also with 4.5/6 is 24-year-old Igor Lysyj (2670).

Should he be able to keep pace and qualify for the Russian Super Final, there can be no doubt 2014 will be seen as a breakthrough year, especially considering his recent 3rd place at the European Individual Championships earlier this year.

Men's standings after six rounds

In the women's competitions Olga Girya has been unstoppable, allowing only one draw and beating everyone of her rivals with 5.5/6. Even Alina Kashlinskaya, who is sole second with 5.0/6 lost her only game to Girya in round five.

Girya, Olga - Kashlinskaya, Alina

It was a hard fought game but Black's queen seems a bit lost. How
can White exploit this? White to play and win.

Olga Girya (left) has had a near perfect touranment and leads with 5.5/6 and a 2685 performance

Albert SilverBorn in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications.

See also

7/3/2018 – Live games from the 2018 Russian Higher League, where top Russian grandmasters battle for one of five qualification spots to the 2018 Russian Championship Superfinal. The overall prize fund is 5 million rubles, or around 68,000 euros. | Pictured: Alexey Sarana | Photo: Dmitry Kryakvin / Russian Chess Federation

See also

7/1/2018 – It is hard to name favourites in such a competitive tournament, but having the 31st seed as sole leader after five rounds can be considered, even in this case, a surprise. The young Muscovite Alexey Sarana is heading the field on 4½/5 at the half-time of the Russian Higher League. The women's section has a clear leader as well — Elena Tomilova also won four and drew one to top the standings. | Photo: Dmitry Kryavkin / Russian Chess Federation

Video

Former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik liked to play the French and once described it as a 'difficult and dangerous opening'. But in this 60 minutes video IM Andrew Martin suggests an aggressive and little-used idea of the renowned attacking player GM Viktor Kupreichik to counter the French: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Be3!?. Andrew Martin uses the games of Kupreichik to show why this line could catch many French aficionados unprepared and is very dangerous for Black. Attacking players will love this line and the unusual complications that it promotes.